KSUM Invites Applications for NIDHI PRAYAS Grant for Hardware Innovators

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has invited applications for NIDHI PRAYAS grant of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, for innovators in hardware electronics solution.

As the state nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation, KSUM is one of the centres selected for the implementation of NIDHI’s (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations) PRAYAS (Promoting and Accelerating Young and aspiring technology entrepreneurs) programme.

NIDHI PRAYAS is a pre-incubation initiative that supports innovators to turn their hardware/electronics solution ideas into proof of concept.

A programme conceived and developed by the DST’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship division, PRAYAS, aims to provide prototype funding to young and aspiring innovators to convert their idea into prototype of a product with potential for commercialisation.

Applications can be made from May 25 to June 30 at https://startupmission.kerala.gov.in/nidhiprayaas.

PRAYAS will provide the selected startups a grant of up to Rs 10 lakh to convert one’s innovative idea into prototype within 18 months. The scheme will facilitate shared or co-working spaces for developing ideas into prototypes, access to infrastructure and prototype building facility, and development of ideas from early to commercial stage and mentorship from experienced industry experts.

The applicants should be Indian individual innovators (with or without a startup) with a minimum age of 18 years.

The applicants’ ideas and innovations should be physical products based on technology and science. Innovators should have technical skills or backgrounds and a roadmap towards commercialisation. They should be capable of completing the prototype within one-and-a-half years.

The priority technology areas covered under the programme are manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, clean-tech, energy, water, and Internet of Things (IoT). Other technology domains may also be considered on the strength or merit of the idea.

Also, the programme provides a platform for young innovators to generate solutions for relevant local and social problems besides promoting a vibrant innovation ecosystem by establishing a network between innovators, academia, mentors, and incubators by catalyzing the commercialisation process for innovators.